The Nightmare Consequence
by Cassiopeia's
Summary: What if it had not been just a terrible dream? What if Leonard's nightmare had actually been real? Takes place just right after Sheldon moved in and fused his lips to Penny's in 09x02: "The Separation Oscillation" and goes from there.
1. Chapter One

The Nightmare Consequence

 _Chapter One_

Amy's call on Skype had been quite a shock. He had not seen this coming. Then again, he had never been particularly good with people, so maybe the signs had been there.

He had been frozen though. Just when he had been ready to propose, his girlfriend of five years had dissolved their relationship. At least that was what the internet said did Amy's phrasing mean.

At first Sheldon had been unable to really comprehend what had actually taken place. Then he had felt a combination of hurt, anger and betrayal. Or so the internet said.

And then...well, the Leonard-and-Penny-debacle had happened and one tiny part of his over-active genius brain, a really tiny one that apparently dealt with the rather irrational aspects of the universe, had wondered if it was only a coincidence that just when Amy broke up with him, set him free, Penny and Leonard's relationship appeared to be over as well. Curious.

When he had told Leonard he was saving his best friend's marriage before moving in and quickly smashing his mouth against said man's wife's, he had meant that. A part of him at least. The other one had been curious.

Of course he wanted to help his friends, but the tiny, maybe selfish part wanted to know. Wanted to know what could have been if he had been able to really flirt with Penny when they had met all those years ago. What could have been if he had simply ignored Leonard's 'dibs' on her and pursued her himself.

Sheldon had never actively thought about that. Probably because he had known it would be pointless since he was too good of a friend and because Penny would never be interested in him. Instead he had built a platonic but deep friendship with Penny. He had had dreams though and in those his mind had wandered.

Nothing had prepared him for the feelings that kissing Penny evoked in him though. Nothing could have because what was actually happening had never taken place before. He wasn't thinking about germs or the fact that he was exchanging salvia with another human being. Instead all he wanted to do was get closer, get more of Penny. Her fingers were tightly wrapped in his hair, he was holding her leg around his hip and swallowed the tiny moan she let out. Kissing Amy had never been like this.

"What's happening?", he heard Leonard cry in the background, but Sheldon was unable to focus on anything else than Penny. She began sucking on his lower lip and Sheldon lost it.  
Feverishly, he hoisted her up, felt her breasts against his chest as one of his hands supported her bottom while the other arm was wrapped securely around her. He felt himself stumbling, his body not used to support any additional weight. Penny noticed and slid down to stand on her own feet again. On her way, she brushed against the apparent erection in his pants and he let out a groan. Sheldon could not recognize himself anymore. What had happened to him to go from a germaphobic, strictly controlled genius to a horny idiot in the blink of an eye?

A painful shove against his left shoulder forced his mind to finally catch up to his actions and he opened his blue eyes as Leonard's angry push caused him to stumble backwards.

"Leonard, no!", Penny cried and quickly stepped between the two boys. Sheldon couldn't do anything but stare at her red, bruised lips. He had caused this. The combination of pressure and sucking, provided by _his_ mouth, had made Penny look like this. Something primal had been set free in him. He felt his heart start pounding madly in his chest because right now he wanted to kiss her again.

"What do you mean 'no'? He kissed you!" Leonard's voice was loud and his face red and angry. Usually, his roommate wasn't one to bring physical harm on someone else and yet he had shoved him. Quite strongly.

"Yes, and I kissed him back. So if you want to hurt him, you should hurt me, too."

While Leonard stared at her scandalized, Penny's statement forced Sheldon out of his stupor. "No," he said strongly, "I will not let him hurt you, Penny. A gentleman does not let that happen and my mother raised me to be one."

"Did she now?," Leonard screamed, "I bet she wouldn't be too happy about her precious boy wonder sucking faces with his supposedly best friend's wife."

Sheldon considered this. Probably not. On the other hand, he knew his mother liked Penny. They had each other on speed dial after all.

"I want you out of the apartment," Leonard said angrily, but Sheldon merely blinked.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible. Like it is stated in the Roommate Agreement-"

"Fuck your stupid contract," Leonard spat, effectively cutting him off, and turned to Penny. "How could you do this to me? And with him of all people?"

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who cheated on me because you couldn't keep it in your pants for four freaking months and you're still seeing her at work," Penny cried.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry? It was just…for a minute we thought we had chemistry."

Sheldon who had been watching the heated and angry exchange, did not have much experience with women. Whenever he had angered Amy somehow he had not even noticed most of the time. Yet, he could see now that Leonard had apparently said the wrong thing because Penny's demeanor changed. Her shoulders straightened and her face became cold.

"Yeah? Well, maybe Sheldon and I have chemistry, too!"

"What?"

Of course they did. If they didn't, they would never have been able to form a friendship like the one they had. "I concur," Sheldon piped up, "in fact-"

"Shut up!", Leonard cut him off loudly and Sheldon wisely chose to do just that.

"I need to get out of here." Still clad in his pajamas and tennis socks, he marched over to the front door, making Sheldon wonder if his roommate was actually planning on going out like that. But Leonard's murderous glare let him know any talking would not be appreciated, so instead of pointing out Leonard's crazy actions, Sheldon held the words in and watched him leave.

As soon as he had closed the apartment door forcefully behind him, Penny plopped down on the couch and let out a frustrated sigh. Sheldon stood helplessly, unable to come up with the right protocol. What was one supposed to do in a situation like this? Would a friendly pat on the shoulder and a calmly stated 'Sheldon's there' suffice?

Uncomfortably and unsure of himself, he moved to sit in his spot, but held his upper body slightly turned towards his blond friend. His thoughts ran a mile a minute, unable to provide him with the right course of action. Taking a deep breath, he realized Penny was not looking at him and therefore maybe not expecting anything from him. So perhaps simply sitting in silence would be everything he had to do. At least that was something he was good at. Instead he mentally went through the last half an hour, remembered the kiss and the following fight. Sheldon wondered if kissing Penny had been wrong. At least Leonard's behavior indicated just that, but on the other hand it had been the perfect solution for all of them. Penny and Leonard got even and his curiosity was satisfied. Yet, nothing was right and Sheldon being Sheldon was unable to function properly if something was in disorder. But how was he supposed to get everything ordered and back under control?

"I think I need to get out of here for a while," Penny suddenly said, pulling Sheldon out of his musings. "But I don't know where to go on such a short notice and it's not like I got a bunch of cash laying around," she told him miserably.

Sheldon, always the quick thinker and generous man, turned around to fully face her. "I may have a solution for your problem," he piped up, making Penny stare at him in surprise. "I have a room reservation in a hotel in San Francisco from tomorrow until Monday morning."

Baffled, Penny sat up. "What? Why?"

Sheldon sighed, unwilling to talk about is failed plans. "It was supposed to be Amy's anniversary gift, but she dissolved our binding relationship contract before the opportunity arose to present her said gift," he explained.

He was not sure, but Penny looked sad all of a sudden. "Oh no, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"Why?", he asked confused. "It's not your fault."

"What? No, Sheldon, it means I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Regardless," he dismissed, "if you went the short vacation would not forfeit at least."

Unexpectedly, Penny's eyes watered and she grabbed his hand, causing his heart to flutter and his body to overheat. "You'd really take me with you?"

He frowned. "Take you with me? I did not think I would be going as well."

"Of course you will," Penny insisted, "sweetie, it was supposed to be your vacation and you paid for all of it."

"But it's only one room," he protested. Surely, Penny was going to see reason now. Sharing a room with one's female friend might be debatable, but cohabitating with one's best friend's wife was certainly socially unaccepted.

"I don't care, Sheldon. We just exchanged a lot of saliva, so accidentally touching each other during sleep is really no big deal."

Put like that, logic dictated him to agree. Besides that, he supposed social conventions were mostly off now, considering the current state of chaos that ruled all the relationships he had with various people in his life.

Taking a deep breath, he gave a nod. "Very well. We will go on this trip together."

Penny squealed in joy and hugged him quickly. Sheldon felt his belly tighten in reaction and noticed his heart beat picking up pace again. Awkwardly, he patted her back and Penny pulled back. What was this sudden strange reaction his body seemed to have developed towards Penny?

"I suggest we start packing. We are due to leave in approximately three hours, forty-six minutes and eleven seconds," he stated, checking his watch.

Penny nodded and got to her feet, her blond curls bouncing due to the movement. Sheldon found he rather liked the color of her hair. It suited her complexion and her eyes well.

"Thank you, Sheldon," Penny said, effectively pulling him out of his musings. While he had stupidly pondered his new-found appreciation of her appearance, Penny had made her way to the front door and turned around to face him again.

"You are welcome," he replied before swallowing and not knowing for what exactly she was thanking him.

She sent a smile his way that caused his knees to feel funny and made him thankful for still being seated. And as his neighbor and female friend of nine years went to pack her suitcase, Sheldon suddenly had the unsettling feeling that maybe taking Penny to San Francisco would turn out to be a bad idea for entirely different reasons.

* * *

 **So this is the first of six chapters in total of my first story centered around Penny and Sheldon. After rewatching and rewatching old episodes, I realized I kinda like them together much better than him and Amy. So this is my first try with them. The story is already completely finished, just needs to be typewritten because I actually wrote it on paper.**

 **I hope you're all gonna enjoy this and read and review.**

 **Cheers.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Howdy folks! Thank you so much for both your reviews and different insights. Here's the next chapter of this little piece. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Cheers!**

* * *

 _Chapter Two_

"Leonard, if you're here to plead for Sheldon's case, let me tell you that-"

"I'm not. I'm here because of this!", Leonard Hofstadter spat and forcefully shoved a wrinkled piece of paper into Amy Farrah Fowler's surprised hands.

"What is it?"

Leonard looked agitated and suddenly Amy had a very bad feeling.

"Penny and I had a fight because I kissed another woman years ago, so that genius bastard boyfriend of yours thought that him being single meant he could make out with my wife," Leonard told her angrily.

Amy's heart stopped beating for a second and a numbing coldness overcame her body. Her face fell. "What?"  
She'd always felt threatened by Sheldon and Penny's close relationship but since her bestie had mostly made fun of Sheldon and had been in a serious relationship with her boyfriend's best friend, she'd never been too worried.

"And now they've apparently run off together," Leonard whined desperately, gesturing towards the note in her hands.

With trembling fingers, Amy held it up to read it.

 _Leonard,  
per Roommate Agreement I am obligated to inform you that Penny and I are currently on vacation. Please use the time to 'cool off' as they say. Penny whishes not to speak to you until we are back, so please refrain from calling her._

 _Sincerely,  
Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ph.D., Sc.D., M.S., M.A., B.S._

"Oh god!"

* * *

"How long will it take us to get to San Francisco?" Penny's voice pulled him out of his thoughts as Sheldon studied the emergency information card.

He shot her a disapproving look."Did you not read the itinerary I emailed you?"

While he may have a much stronger physical reaction to Penny as of late, he definitely preferred Amy's structuredness and preparedness.

"Sweetie, five hours ago I wasn't even aware I'd be going on a trip with you."

"Then read it now," he huffed before turning his attention back to the information card.

Penny let out a sigh. "Fine."

"Thank you."

Seconds later, she gasped. "Sheldon, you can't be serious! You have our whole trip already tightly planned."

He nodded confused. Of course he did. He was a structured person, not a hippie. "Yes, though I do not understand what has you so surprised."

Penny put away her phone and turned to fully face him. "Sweetie, this isn't a vacation, this is pure horror. A vacation is about relaxing and seeing a little of a foreign place. Not rushing from place to place."

"I assure you this itinerary is meticulously planned to include every location worth visiting," he replied stiffly. Sheldon hated it when people disagreed with him.

"I'm sure it is, sweetie, but we don't have to see everything. Relaxing is the key word here." She smiled at him and involuntarily, Sheldon found himself agreeing to redo their plans.

What was that Nebraskan whirlwind doing to him?

* * *

Two hours later Sheldon was still working. Both his and Penny's phones had been set off by various calls a few times but they had apparently silently agreed not to answer. Sheldon did not understand Leonard's tries anyway since he had made it clear in his note that Penny was currently unwilling to talk to her husband.

The thought of Leonard evoked unexplainable feeling in Sheldon. He had never made a secret out of his disapproval regarding his two friends' relationship. They had always been ridiculously incompatible and Sheldon hoped at least Penny was finally starting to see that. Nonetheless, it did not explain his new troublesome feelings towards Penny. They had not talked about their kiss yet and Sheldon was not even sure they either would or should, but somehow he found it of utter importance to know Penny's thoughts on the matter and what all of this meant. Both, the kiss itself and the fact that he so desperately needed Penny's opinion.

Besides Leonard, Amy had tried to call him as well. Upon seeing her name on his phone's display, Penny had told him she believed Leonard must have told her all about the recent events. Sheldon had been unsure what to think. On the one hand, Penny had a much better understanding of people. On the other hand, he thought it possible that Amy was simply regretting her decision and wanted to be with him again. Since he had had no idea how to react to such a scenario, Sheldon had realized the whole point to be moot and had ignored Amy's call as well. However, his current ex-girlfriend was more intelligent than his roommate and had texted him after realizing he was not taking her calls.

 _Sheldon,  
I must tell you that I am deeply hurt by your actions. I would never have taken you for a cheater. Your behavior makes me wonder if anything you ever said is true and if you ever really loved me at all.  
I feel deeply hurt and betrayed and don't know what to say. Apparently, our relationship is over now.  
Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler_

Sheldon's heart pounded wildly in his chest and he felt anger shoot through his body. How could she accuse him like that? He had not cheated on anyone, especially her since she had been the one to break his heart metaphorically in the first place. If he were to take her message literally, it meant he had willingly cheated on his girlfriend he had maliciously strung along until a better opportunity arose.

He must have literally shaken with anger because Penny rose next to him. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Nothing," he said through gritted teeth, clenching his fists. The urge to flee into the sanctuary of his room at home was immense, but knowing he was on a train in close proximity to another human being, even though it was Penny, caused him to feel caged. Therefore, like a wild, terrified animal, he flinched when Penny worriedly touched his arm and snapped at her.

"Don't touch me!"

Taken aback, Penny moved away from him. Sheldon knew he had hurt her, but at the moment he was feeling too much to care. His breathing was labored and he was going to have a panic attack if he didn't get himself under control again. His heart pounded so hard, his hands became sweaty and-

He was completely thrown off when Penny turned his face towards her, bridged the gap between them and quickly pressed her mouth to his. Like a few hours prior, Sheldon's mind blanked. His stomach did somersaults and he felt arousal come over him. Why did kissing Penny feel so good? Involuntary, his hand came up and wrapped itself up in her blond curls.

Penny moaned against his lips and slid her tongue against them. Instinctively, Sheldon opened his mouth to let her in. He didn't think about germs, just about Penny and that he wanted her to be closer. With one last swipe of her tongue, she pulled away. They both took in a much needed breath and stared slightly shocked at each other.

"Why did you do that?", he asked, his breathing returning to normal as he stared at Penny's flushed face and bruised lips.

"To reboot you," she replied quietly, "that was the plan at least."

The next questions stumbled out of his mouth before he was able to stop them. "Why does kissing you feel like that? Why do I keep on wanting to repeat the experience?"

Penny blushed, to his surprise, and looked away. She shrugged. "I don't know. It's like a dam broke."

Stunned, Sheldon raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly. "That is surprisingly astute." And it was. He supposed it was similar to trying drugs and becoming addicted, especially considering the euphoric, positive feelings kissing Penny generated in him.

"What does that mean for us? Penny, while your education in general is quite lacking, I must admit that in regards to relationships you are of great knowledge. Hence my question."

She sighed and met his blue gaze. "Thanks," she said and Sheldon believed he detected a hint of sarcasm. "But I don't have an answer either. Right now, I kinda ditched my cheating husband for his best friend and while kissing you is freakishly amazing, it's not the reason why we went on this trip."

Sheldon considered this and nodded. He watched as Penny's thumb stroked over the texture of her jeans. "You are correct. We went because you wanted to get away from Leonard and I went along because you made me."

She shot him an irritated look, but Sheldon was unfazed. "Assuming you were honest about your reasons for kissing me, you tried to calm me down. Not that your reasoning was not false, but-"

"Sheldon, why did you need a reboot anyway?", she cut him off.

He sighed and looked away. "I don't want to talk about it," he finally said honestly. He still felt quite a lot of various emotions.

"Sweetie, the whole point of this trip is to be there for each other and work through everything so that when we get back home, we'll have all the answers."

Her hand had found his arm and while he was hyper aware of the touch, he did not find it unpleasant. Quite the opposite in fact, if he was honest with himself. It was rather curious considering how long it had taken him to come to tolerate Amy's touch, let alone enjoy it. And while the time had come, the level of enjoyment came not even close to this. It seemed that in a way Penny had always been his exception and apparently it did not take more than a heartfelt, softly stated request to make him relent to her wishes because he found himself handing over his phone for Penny to read Amy's message.

Sheldon held his breath as he waited for Penny's reaction. Unable to watch her, he looked out of the window to see passing trees and landscapes.

"But...I thought she broke up with you," Penny said confused.

"Thank you," Sheldon let out relieved, the metaphorical fist around his heart loosening.

"Sheldon, sweetie, what exactly did Amy say during that Skype call?" Penny's inquiry made him frown in confusion.

"That it was emotionally challenging to be with me and that she needed to step back and reevaluate our relationship. Then the debacle at the Wolowitz's happened," he recited.

Penny frowned, then shrugged. "You know what? It's not your problem. Maybe she is hurt because she did want you back after all or because she's a little jealous you made out with me in a way you haven't ever with her. In any case, you did nothing wrong. As far as you're concerned you were a single guy trying to help out his best friend in an admittedly unorthodox way."

Sheldon didn't know why but Penny's opinion mattered more than anyone else's and now that he knew she believed he was not at fault he felt incredibly light and relieved. "Thank you, Penny," he told her reverently, even though he realized Penny's reasoning considering his motivation to kiss her in the first place was not omniferous. But he did not know if right now was the right time to inform her of his entire motive, if he did not understand it fully himself yet. Besides that, he did not wish to become her only reason to end Leonard's and her relationship. He was his friend after all.

"Let's try to get some sleep. We've been up half of the night," Penny told him after handing him his phone back,

While he did not particularly like the idea of falling asleep in a public location like a train compartment, even though he had booked all seats so he and originally Amy would have the entire compartment to themselves, he found that he was indeed quite tired and so he agreed. 

* * *

Sheldon woke up with a start, though he could not remember what he had been dreaming about. He rubbed his eyes with his right hand and blinked against the sunlight blinding him through the window. He looked sleepily around, took in his surroundings. The dark red leather seats, the distance between the sun and the horizon to conclude the approximate time and location and then finally the way Penny was all but snuggled against his side while he had apparently wrapped his left arm around her in his sleep. She was still asleep and it gave him time to come up with the right course of action and to assess his feelings in regards to his current position.

Fact one: it did not feel uncomfortable.  
Fact two: he liked kissing Penny and from what he had been given to understand, vice versa.  
Fact three: he was single because Amy had ended their relationship and even though he had felt hurt, angry and betrayed in the beginning, it was better now. Now he was only angry at Amy.  
Fact four: Penny was currently on the run with him because she needed to get away from Leonard who she had just married. If it was only because he had cheated on her or if their kiss to get back at Leonard also played a part, Sheldon could not safely say.

Next to these four facts, there were a few other aspects yet to be determined. For one thing, if the feelings he had seemingly suddenly developed for Penny were only there because of the loss of Amy and if not, would he want to enter a romantic relationship with her? What would said paradigm shift entail? What would this scenario mean for his friendship with Leonard and their whole group dynamic?

Analyzing his thoughts, Sheldon realized his first step would be to compare his feelings for both women and conclude if he wanted to be romantically involved with one of them. Wishing he had his white board with him but knowing the situation could not be helped as of now and considering that his left arm was still wrapped rather tightly around his female neighbor and friend of nine years, Sheldon knew his mind would have to suffice.


	3. Chapter Three

**Morning people!  
**

 **Thank you for your many reviews and your insights. Welcome to Chapter Three. I hope you'll all enjoy it.**

* * *

 _Chapter Three_

There were so many emotions in him right now. Plain hate and betrayal for his supposed to be best friend, envy and maybe even a hint of baffled impression. Even if that was weird, but it took guts for what Sheldon had done which was so not the point.  
Then there was Penny, his _wife._ Disbelief, hurt, betrayal, frustration, desperation, love, lust, envy. There were so many feelings connected to Penny that he could barely think straight.

He was sitting on Raj's couch, drinking his most expensive whiskey and waited for his friend's reaction.

"You're not surprised," Leonard spat accusingly and Raj sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"No, I am, but then I'm not."

Leonard's eyebrow rose. "What's that supposed to mean?", he slurred, barely suppressing his anger.

"Well…I always thought they had chemistry. They've always had a soft spot for each other."

"They did not!"

Defensively, Raj raised his hands, palms up. "Man, don't kill me. I guess…because they've been with other people, they had the chance to really get to know each other without the pressure of a romantic relationship. If that makes sense."

"What?", Leonard screeched.

"Don't worry, man. It could just be the Bridget Jones in me talking."

"And if not?"

Taking a deep breath, Raj raised his brows and looked away from his friend.  
"Well…," he said, trailing off awkwardly.

* * *

"Finally," Penny groaned as they descended the train after ten long hours.

Sheldon huffed. Apparently his blond companion was not able to enjoy a train ride.

"Next time we go on a road trip we'll take a plane," she told him and Sheldon found her choice of words most interesting.

"I suggest we take a cab to our hotel first. Then we have an hour and twenty minutes before our dinner reservations."

Penny grinned cheekily. "I know, sweetie. I read both your itineraries."

They made their way through the station, pulling their luggage behind them. Luckily, they caught a cab right away and Sheldon gave the driver their hotel's address. Fifteen minutes later they finally stood in their hotel room which was rather suite-like.

"Wow," Penny sighed happily and nearly let herself fall down on the bed, but Sheldon was fortunately fast enough to get hold of her arm.

"Penny," he admonished, "your entire clothes are contaminated by the germs of the train. I cannot let you lie on the bed in these clothes. Besides that, I have yet to check this room with my black-light lamp to make sure the hotel personnel followed my hygienic instructions."

Penny rolled her eyes and pulled her arm free. "Fine, do your crazy, whack-a-doodle. I'm gonna take a shower then."

Instantly, his mind came up with a certain image of a few years prior when he had curiously but in true hero fashion peeked as he had helped an injured Penny get dressed. By now he was able to admit to himself that while back then he had been in no place to act on his feelings, they had already been there. In all honesty, he had always found Penny desirable, but even in his limited experience he knew that his sexual attraction towards Penny did not suffice alone. Forcing himself out of his thoughts, Sheldon got to work.

* * *

Dinner had been relaxed, Penny had not allowed talking about either Amy or Leonard and truthfully, Sheldon had been glad about that. Instead they had talked about their work, the fact that Penny knew it was the right decision to stick with hers but kind of hated it and how Sheldon still did not like the teaching aspect of his junior profession.

They talked about Age of Conan, movies and TV series. Sheldon confessed that with the exception of his mother, no one made spaghetti with cut hot dogs as good as she did and Penny promised to make it for him once they came home.

She admitted that she sometimes missed the time when she and Leonard were broken up and Sheldon had been with Amy but not really and they had spent a lot of time together. Blushing slightly, he responded that he too felt unhappy about the ever decreasing amount of time they were spending together. After smiling shyly at each other, Penny suggested reinforcing shared laundry night and Sheldon happily agreed.

After dinner, they had both been quite tired. Because of the previous night and their long train trip, they decided to go to bed earlier. They had a stressful day ahead of them after all.

With their nightly routines finished, Penny and Sheldon found themselves in their joined bed. While he had been nervous about this, Penny made it quite easy for him. She simply got in, told him to join her with a sweet smile that made his knees weak and follow her every command, and soon they were both under the blanket. Penny switched off the light and quickly leaned over to kiss his cheek before saying: "Goodnight, moonpie."

Sheldon's face got hot, his belly tightened and needless to say, it took him a while to fall asleep.

* * *

When his alarm went off at eight thirty (he had decided they both could use more sleep than he usually needed), Sheldon found himself tightly wrapped around Penny. He had never shared a bed with another human being, at least not since he'd turned three and threw a fit when his mother tried to put him down next to Missy. Yet, he found the experience to wake up curled around Penny not to be a terrible one. She was warm, soft and smelled good. His left arm lay outstretched beneath her neck, his right arm rested on the smooth skin of her stomach. Penny's right hand was entwined with his. His face rested against her neck. While he was definitely shocked to find himself in such a position, however he did not feel the need to flee. Instead, he realized he was rather reluctant to get out of bed. Curious.

"Uh…Shel'n, turn it off," Penny slurred and he became aware that he had forgotten to turn off his alarm during his musings. He quickly extricated himself and grabbed his phone. Penny sighed in relief once it was silent again and to his delight, she turned around and buried herself in his warmth.

Swallowing, he held still. "Penny, I would like to get up to urinate."

She groaned and let go of him. "It's too early."

Sheldon could not help but smile at her. She was, for lack of a better word, cute. "Actually, I allowed us to sleep in. It's almost nine."

Not caring for her vulgar reply, he finally stood up and made his way into the bathroom to relieve himself. Curiously, he was in a good mood. He was well-rested and felt strangely satisfied. Sheldon thought back to earlier when he had woken up. A few years ago, when he and Amy had built a fort in his living room, he had also woken up quite close to her. Alarmed, he had gotten up as fast as he had been able to and had showered and scrubbed himself raw. Afterwards he had given Amy a strike.

Looking at the comparing table he had created in his mind on the train yesterday, he realized Penny was winning. Kissing her felt…mind-blowing, even though he knew that was scientifically impossible. Around her he became sexually aroused and was not too shy to act on it, at least in small steps. She cared for him and helped him when needed, even when his so-called friends had abandoned him. She sang Soft Kitty, played Age of Conan and Halo with him, took him to Disneyland and movies and even drove hours to kick a mean man into his testicles to get Sheldon his toys back. She had given him the best Christmas present of all times and he had even allowed her to touch him quite early in their relationship. Penny was simply amazing.  
She caused his heart and belly to behave funnily and the thought of her being away from him or with someone else filled him with dread.

Taking a deep breath, letting the oxygen circle his system, before slowly breathing out, Sheldon closed his blue eyes for a moment. And then, upon opening them again, he quietly admitted it to the empty bathroom.

"I have feelings of romantic nature for Penny."

* * *

Their day had been quite an adventure so far. They had ridden a cable car, had visited the Golden Gate Bridge and its park with the aquarium, the botanic garden and the planetarium. While they had listened to the narrator's quite boring story, Sheldon had pointed out the really interesting stars and constellations to Penny. They had leaned closer to each other in the dark theater and Sheldon found himself wishing time would come to an halt for a while.

Afterwards they had gotten lunch and Penny had forced him to go for a walk in the park. Sheldon, of course, had protested and finally only agreed under the condition that they both put on sun blocker to protect themselves from the unrelenting summer sun. He found it especially troubling how easily Penny could convince him to do something he originally had not wanted to. It only took her smile or the gentle squeeze of her fingers and he found himself doing illogical or unsanitary things, like sitting on a public bench in the sun while eating a sundae. Penny had taken off her shoes and let her feet touch the freshly mowed grass. Sheldon watched as her bright pink painted toes caught culms. She sighed happily.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," she told him, "but this has been a really nice vacation so far, Sheldon." She smiled at him and Sheldon felt his insides doing somersaults again.

"I found it rather enjoyable as well. Are you interested in discussing our further plans for tonight and tomorrow?"

"Sheldon, you made me read the itinerary, remember?"

"I remember everything," he replied automatically, "I have an-"

"Eidetic memory," Penny cut him off, rolling her eyes, "yeah, we're all quite aware."

"Very well," he huffed, slightly hurt, but Penny didn't seem to notice. Instead she got a strange look on her face and sighed, but this time it did not sound as relaxed and carefree as before.

"Sheldon?"

"Yes?"

"Since we've been here, I haven't thought about my husband once. The husband who admitted he cheated on me before I shared an amazing kiss with his best friend to get back at him and ran away with the friend. What does that say about this marriage?" She sounded sad and hurt and Sheldon swallowed upon the vulnerability in her voice.

"It tells me that your marriage is as ill-fated as your entire relationship has been from the beginning. I have always told you that but no one ever listened."

It was true. He had always thought and said so. He knew that Leonard had not wanted to hear that but Sheldon believed that being a true friend meant telling the truth, even though it might not really be appreciated.

"It does, doesn't it?", Penny whispered and now there were tears in her eyes.

Sheldon swallowed. "Yes, it does. I am sorry if stating the truth caused you grief," he apologized.

"No, sweetie, it's not your fault. I think you are an amazing friend." She moved to put her hand over his on his knee and in a deliberate, uncharacteristic move, Sheldon turned his own hand at the last moment, causing them to hold hands on his knee. Her touch made his stomach flip again and his heart beat accelerate.

"I guess I've come to a decision," she told him after a minute of simply sitting in the summer sun and holding hands.

Sheldon nodded, nervously encouraging her to continue. If Penny decided to leave Leonard, to dissolve their romantic entanglement, it would make her single and therefore available. However, Sheldon had no idea what this scenario would mean for him and his ever growing feelings for Penny, not to mention his friendship with Leonard. His own ex-girlfriend, who had only ended their relationship mere days ago, was Penny's self-proclaimed 'bestie' and Leonard his own best friend.  
On the other hand, he had developed romantic feelings towards Penny and should she reciprocate he found he wanted to pursue her. Of course he knew being in a romantic relationship with Penny would entail certain aspects of sexual nature, but Sheldon strangely realized he was not entirely opposed to that idea. He thought back to their heated, erotic kisses and knew that his fear of germs and intimacy had been far from his mind. In the right setting, he believed, he would have let Penny seduce him.

Slightly alarmed, he mentally took a step back. His own train of thought was suddenly very foreign to him. Apparently, he was not entirely opposed to intimacy. Up until now there had merely not been the right person to elicit this reaction from him.

He swallowed and refocused on Penny, waiting for her to tell him of her decision.

"Once we get home, I'm gonna sit down with Leonard and tell him that it's over. And then I'm gonna get our marriage annulled. It should not have happened in the first place, I think."

The relief he was suddenly filled with was so sweet that Sheldon was unable to hold in his wide smile and happy sigh. Apparently, Penny noticed and blushed which made Sheldon flush himself.

"I think that is a wise choice," he replied at last, his voice hoarse and they shared a small smile.

* * *

The evening had been the most fun Sheldon had had in a long time. First they had dinner, and even though Sheldon had originally made reservations, he let Penny choose the restaurant. He was still quite excited about his friend's intention to end her relations with his roommate and that elation had caused him to act a bit more whimsical.

Later, they had taken a ride to Pier 39 where they rode carousels and roller coasters, ate candy and Penny even managed to get him into a photo booth. On the picture, Penny was kissing his cheek as Sheldon smiled. What had him surprised the most was how utterly relaxed and delighted his smile was.

"Let's go ride the ferries wheel," Penny suggested excitedly, grabbing his sleeve and pull him into its direction.

Alarmed, Sheldon stopped and pulled her back, effectively haltering her as well. "Penny, while I am wearing my bus pants which made it almost tolerable to go on these rides, they do not dissolve my fear of heights," explained as stiffly as he could, considering his rising panic.

"Don't be afraid, sweetie. You don't actually have to look down. Just look straight and you won't even know you're that high up."

Sheldon frowned. "This is utter nonsense. Considering the radius of the earth and my faculty of sight I will know _exactly_ how high I will be." He looked at her disapprovingly. "Even you should be able to. It's simple math they actually teach in high school."  
Really, sometimes her limited education still astounded him. It was rather surprising how he, the probably greatest genius of this generation, could have fallen in love with someone like Penny. His own phrasing made him frown.

"Fine," she agreed, rolling her eyes, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts. "I don't want you to pass out anyway."

He breathed out, quite relieved. "Thank you," he said, really, really meaning it. His gaze fell on a shooting booth. Of course, during his Texan upbringing he, as a Texan young boy, had been required to learn how to shoot and he knew Penny could as well. Enjoyed it even.  
"What do you say?", he suggested, nodding towards the booth, "let's win a stuffed animal."

Penny's eyes lit up and she eagerly agreed.

Ten minutes later, they both wore delighted expressions and held their giant stuffed bears as the owner watched them go, an unhappy smile on his face.

"That was without a doubt the most fun I had in a while. Thanks for that, sweetie." Penny smiled at him and he reciprocated.

"Me, too," he admitted. Somehow, their hands had found each other as they slowly walked back to the hotel, leaving the colorful lights of the fair behind them.

"Are you still hurt over Amy breaking up with you?"

Easily, Sheldon shook his head. "No. I was at first, but now…after thinking about the reason for why I was feeling pain I realized it was more due the fact that my established routines were going to change after I did so much to fit a girlfriend in. In fact, I find myself to be relieved. However I am reluctant to see her go completely. She was a lovely acquaintance and I liked our intellectual conversations."

"You're gonna miss her friendship," Penny translated and Sheldon nodded. Penny's hand was still in his.

"Since she was the one to terminate our relationship agreement in the first place, one should suppose she would be agreeable to resuming our friendship. Considering her latest text message I do not believe that though."

Penny squeezed his fingers. "If she's still talking to me I'm gonna plead your case, sweetie," she promised and they shared a shy smile.

By now they had reached their hotel and slowly walked across the lobby to the elevator.

"Considering that in Amy's eyes you are the one I committed infidelity with, it is doubtful she will not be angry at you as well."

Penny sighed as they stepped into the elevator. "Yeah, I know."

"I hate changes, Penny," Sheldon told her. But at least they were all happening at once and maybe, once a new status quo had established itself, he would be okay. Maybe they all would be.

"I know, honey."

They had finally reached their room and stopped in front of the door.

"I know I am no expert at these things, but I do believe what we had tonight could be qualified as a date," Sheldon stated, unable to meet Penny's green eyes. He opened the door.

"It could," Penny agreed rather softly and his heart beat accelerated when he remembered how his dates with Amy had usually ended. He knew he wanted to kiss Penny again. There was little else he had subconsciously been thinking about and surprisingly he found he did not need it to be scheduled. On the other hand, Penny was still with Leonard, his best friend and he knew kissing someone else while being in a relationship counted as cheating. It was that which had caused all this trouble and changes in the first place.

Penny grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his thoughts. "Sweetie?" She looked away and bit her lip. Apparently, she was about to say something uncomfortable. Maybe she did not wish to kiss him any longer.

Rejection filled him and he was about to pull away when Penny started speaking again.

"Once we're back and Leonard and I had that talk….do you think we could…have another date? A real one?"

At once, Sheldon realized Penny had not been uncomfortable but nervous. It made him feel strangely brave and proud that beautiful, amazing Penny was nervous around _him_.

"I…I would not object to that," he stuttered and Penny looked up at him again. Her wary, nervous expression transformed into a smile that lit up her whole face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Sheldon stiffened for a moment before he hugged her back. Her soft temple touched his slightly rough cheek and somehow Sheldon found he really enjoyed their closeness. He closed his eyes, took in her smell and tightened his arms a little. Strangely, he was in no hurry to break the embrace any time soon.


	4. Chapter Four

**Good morning, guys. Thank you so much for your reviews. After this chapter here, only two more are left to wrap things up. I hope you enjoy and leave some comments. Cheers!  
**

* * *

 _Chapter Four_

Disorientated, Sheldon opened his eyes. He knew he still had to be dreaming. There was no way he was actually sharing a bed with a highly aroused Penny who was grinding herself against his rock hard erection.

"Penny," he whispered, but his voice sounded foreign to his own ears.

"Sheldon," she breathed and moaned softly.

He did not know what to do. Participate or pull away? Start crying or screaming? Just the mere thought of the germs that would –

His train of thought was cut off entirely when Penny turned around all of a sudden and kissed him senseless. His mind was empty and he heatedly kissed her back. Penny's velvet tongue brushed against his lips and he opened his mouth to tentatively engage in what he realized to be his first French kiss. Penny leaned closer to him until their bodies touched. Sheldon let out a moan. His arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her closer until she was practically lying on top of him.

"Oh god, Sheldon," she groaned, letting her lips wander down to suck on his neck. Involuntarily, his eyes rolled back. His whole body felt on fire. Never in his almost forty years had he ever felt such joy and excitement. His fingers had developed a mind of their own and slid underneath her top to caress her soft skin. Penny sat up on his lap and raised her arms, indicating for him to pull her top over her head.

Feverishly, he followed suit. He wasn't thinking, there were not any thoughts of germs or fear of intimacy or shame for what they were doing as be began to suck on her collar bone. She ran her fingers though his hair in ecstasy and let out a deep moan. The sound made him actually shudder which caused his mind to clear the fog of arousal for a tiny moment.

"Penny, we need to stop," he told her between kisses.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of fluids now," she groaned, but bit down on his neck.

"No," he replied, tending his head to give her better access. "Surprisingly, it's not that. You are still married to Leonard who is my best friend."

"Uh," Penny let out and pulled away. Her eyes were hooded as she looked at him. "Damn it. You are right."

He was still very much ready for coitus as it seemed and his pants were uncomfortable. "I…I…need to take a shower," he murmured, slightly embarrassed and to his entire astonishment, Penny blushed a little in the moonlight that fell upon them through the window.

"I'm sorry. I had a dream about us and it kinda escalated."

Sheldon flushed and swallowed. "I find myself reluctant to leave."

Penny smiled. "I know. Me too, sweetie."

He frowned. "But considering the circumstances-"

"We need to stop for now," Penny finished for him.

He nodded and then she moved away from him to let him go to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, he was back in bed. His body was almost frozen and yet he could still fee the slight buzzing of his earlier arousal.

Next to him, Penny was already half asleep again. "Good night, sweetie," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

"Good night," he replied rather stiffly and pulled the blanket tightly around himself.

They were both quiet and Sheldon thought about everything that had happened in the duration of the last days. And then, after a while, he asked for clarification. "Penny? Are you going to be girlfriend someday in the near future?"

"Sure," came her sleepy reply.

* * *

Their Sunday went by rather quickly. After their respective morning routines and a delicious breakfast, they went to visit the California Academy of Science, Telegraph Hill, the Exploratorium and at last the Comic Art Museum. Even though their day was full and a bit stressful, they enjoyed it immensely. In the evening they had a nice dinner and went to bed rather early because their train would leave at seven.

"I'm nervous, Sheldon," Penny told him when they settled into bed and turned off the light. "This is the second marriage I'm going to have annulled and this time I might lose two of my closest friends in the process."

"I believe there is a saying. 'Three times is the charm'. While I do not know this to be true, it might cheer you up."

He saw Penny roll her eyes. "Not really. What if Leonard won't ever speak to us again?"

"Well," Sheldon started, considering this, "I believe the only other option is to stay married to him which would cause us all to be miserable."

"You'd be miserable if I stayed with Leonard?" Her tone suggested surprise which baffled Sheldon.

"Evidently. Penny, I should assume you to know this but I do have feelings of romantic nature for you. Therefore it would cause me distress if you decided to continue your ill-fated romantic entanglement with Leonard."

When he dared to look at Penny with his heart pounding heavily in his chest, she had tears in her green eyes.

"I have feelings for you too, sweetie," she whispered and squeezed his hand.

Indescribable warmth spread through him and they smiled at each other. "Good," he replied and turned around to fall asleep. Yet, their fingers remained entwined.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Sheldon nodded at Penny.

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said, squeezed his fingers one last time and finally opened the door to apartment 4A.  
Four pairs of eyes immediately flew to them, followed by Leonard's angry voice.

"You!" Fuming, he stepped closer to them and Sheldon, not knowing if his roommate would try to physically harm either of them, quickly hid behind Penny. But it did not get much further as Raj stopped his friend.

"Leonard, don't," he admonished, his hand wrapped around the shorter physicist's wrist, "remember what we talked about."

With apparently much difficulty, Leonard tried to calm down and looked at his wife. "Can we please talk?"

Sheldon watched her nod and step away from him. "Alright. Let's go over to my place." Leonard quickly followed her and Sheldon could not help but worry.

"Spill the beans, man. You made out with Penny and went on a romantic get-away together?", Howard grilled him as soon as Sheldon was seated in his spot.

Sheldon sighed. He had anticipated this. Of course they would question him. He was relieved Amy was not there as well and that Leonard was not making a scene yet.

"Yes, Howard. Penny and I kissed. No, we did not go on a 'romantic get-away' as in a prescheduled trip for the two of us, but on one originally arranged for Amy Farrah Fowler and myself."

"I really hope they will get through this," Raj said as he sat down in the spot Leonard had previously occupied.

Sheldon shrugged. "Penny has decided not to continue their marriage and relationship."

"What?" Howard, Bernadette and Raj had all screeched at once. Unsettled, Sheldon looked up, slightly alarmed.

"Explain," Bernadette demanded while shooting him a glare that would have made a lesser man's testicles shrink.

"She decided to pursue a romantic relationship with me instead," he offered, causing a synchronic repeat performance of their first reaction.

"What did you do to her?", Howard asked.

Confused, Sheldon frowned. "As I stated previously, I kissed her," he repeated.

"Sheldon, this is crazy. A few days ago you and Amy were celebrating your five-year-anniversary and Penny and Leonard went to get married. Feelings don't change like that in a matter of a few days," Raj said.

"Yes," Sheldon agreed, "but Amy Farrah Fowler terminated our relationship as you all very well know and once the first shock of such a drastic change was over, I found myself to be quite relieved."

"Good for you, but that doesn't explain why Penny doesn't want to be married to Leonard anymore."

Sheldon sighed at Howard's reply. He had known they would want an explanation for this. Leonard would want one as well and while Sheldon was quite certain in his reasoning, he doubted Penny would be able to give Leonard a sufficient answer.

"As you all know, I find psychology to be a rather laughable field of science," he began, "but in this case I do believe the answer is to be found there. The reason why Leonard and Penny suddenly decided to elope was my fault. I might have forced them to choose a date which caused Penny to overreact."

"Overreact? Sheldon, they were engaged. Of course they were going to get married some day," Raj complained.

"Or were they? Being engaged does not necessarily mean a couple actually marries."

"So you think Penny never really wanted to marry Leonard and you just pressured her?", Bernadette clarified and Sheldon nodded. The tiny blonde really was the smartest one of those three.

"Do you believe that?", Howard asked his wife surprised and Bernadette shrugged.

"I don't know. In a way it makes sense. Penny has always had commitment issues. And that they never chose a date _was_ weird."

After that neither of them said anything for a whole and Sheldon watched as his friends progressed the news. While they did that, he would unpack and take a shower to wash the germs of the train and the station off him.

Getting up, he wondered how much longer Penny and Leonard's talk was going to take. He found himself worrying about his friends. Which was ridiculous considering Penny was very much equipped should a physical fight arise. Maybe worrying about the other one was an epiphenomenon when one was in a relationship with someone they actually loved.

Sighing, he quickly unpacked, stripped and got into the shower. When he returned, clad in blue chinos, a red thermal and his superman shirt, the Wolowitzes and Raj were still there.

"We have another question, Sheldon," Raj said as Sheldon got himself a drink from the fridge.

"While you are not as uneducated as Penny is, I am still giving you the same advice. Ask me as many questions as you can."

He did not notice how his friends rolled their eyes as he made his way towards his spot.

"Even though Penny might not want to be with Leonard anymore, why the hell does she wanna be with you?" Sheldon sighed and ignored Raj's language. What kind of question was that? He was a genius, possessed the ability to really talk with women, was tall, not Howard-like creepy, had nearly perfect eye sight and was able to digest dairy products. In short, of the four of them he was the most logical choice.

"You would have to ask her."

"But you don't do real relationships. You aren't a real boy," Howard replied disbelievingly, causing Sheldon to frown.

"As you know perfectly well, my name is not Pinocchio and I am not made out of wood either."

"No," Raj replied, annoyed at Sheldon's literalness, "but you don't want a physical relationship."

Rolling his eyes to hide his blush, Sheldon snapped irritably: "Not that it is any of your business, but I do desire a physical relationship. It simply took the right person."

"Aww," Bernadette let out, making Raj and Howard look at her in surprise.

Sheldon, feeling uncomfortable, stood up and walked over to his desk. "I have work to do. Please entertain yourselves or get out," he told them stiffly, not waiting for a reply.

* * *

He knew Bernadette was still there. His guess was that she believed Penny would need a female friend to talk to and since Amy had not been present when they had arrived, she probably believed Amy would not be interested in taking up her responsibilities as Penny's 'bestie'.

He was rather certain of this because approximately fifteen minutes ago, Howard received a text message and after a moment of quiet discussion, the two males had left rather hurriedly while Bernadette stayed behind.  
Another few minutes passed before Penny, undoubtedly without knocking, entered the apartment.

Instantly, Sheldon's stomach tightened and he rose to his feet. "How did it go?", he asked, referring to her recent talk with Leonard. Penny looked tired and wary, but smiled at his inquiry, making the tight knot in his stomach loosen a bit.

"Not good," she sighed, causing Sheldon to frown at her poor grammar.

"That was to be expected," Bernadette piped up.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry you guys got dragged into this."

At Sheldon's confused look, Bernadette explained. "Leonard asked Howie and Raj to go to Vegas."

Sheldon nodded. Apparently, this was the appropriate course of action when one had woman trouble. This had already happened once when Leslie Winkle ended her sexual relations with Howard, leaving Sheldon and Penny alone together.

Realizing Penny was upset, Sheldon moved to make her a hot beverage as the blonde sat down in what he referred to as 'her spot'.

"I still can't believe it," he heard Bernadette say quietly, "how did that even happen?"

"I don't know," Penny replied, "at first, kissing Sheldon was about anger and revenge, but then…." She trailed off.

"Then it felt…good?", Bernadette asked and when he did not hear Penny's answer, he concluded that she must have agreed silently.

The tea was finished and Sheldon poured a cup before making his way over to the two women. Sitting down, he was a little surprised when Penny instantly leaned against him. He felt slightly uncomfortable expressing public displays of affection since Bernadette was with them, but he understood that Penny needed his physical comfort right now. So he took a deep breath and wrapped his right arm around her. To his surprise it was really not that bad and Bernadette even smiled approvingly at him.

"While it's surprising, at the same time it's really not. You two being together I mean," the tiny blonde said.

Confused, Sheldon pointed out: "That does not make any sense."

"Yeah, it does," Penny disagreed, patting his hand lovingly. Sheldon grumbled and chose to ignore their giggles. They were probably at his expense anyway.

"So what is going to happen? Are you going to annul your marriage with Leonard?"

"Yes," Penny told her without hesitating, "I guess I never really wanted to marry him in the first place or else we would have set a date months ago."

Bernadette nodded. "Yes, I always thought it was a little weird to never hear about any planning."

"I could get the papers from the internet?!", Sheldon instantly offered. He felt useless, simply sitting next to the girls and listen to their talk.

"Alright," Penny agreed, apparently understanding his need to move.

Sheldon got up and moved to his desk once again.

"What about Amy?", Bernadette suddenly asked, causing Sheldon to freeze.

What about Amy indeed? At first, he had been really hurt first by her terminating their relationship and then by her text message. From his point of view he had been left by her in the first place and was therefore free to kiss whomever he desired. Penny had agreed with that.  
On the other hand, Sheldon had come to realize while he had never loved and wanted Amy the way she had needed him to, he was very fond of her in an entirely platonic way and would miss her friendship immensely. With Amy, his mind had almost found an equal. If Sheldon had only understood from the beginning that even a genius like him needed more than intellectual compatibility, the whole mess could have been avoided. He knew that he would need to have a talk with Amy if he wanted her treasured friendship back.

"Amy ended our relationship, Bernadette. You were there for the 'ugly', as they say," he told her, his back still turned to the women.

"Yeah, but I also remember you trying to win her back. Admittedly, your method lacked quite a bit."

Strangely, his heart pounded a little stronger as he turned around to face the girls. "I have come to the conclusion that I was trying for the wrong reason. Amy Farrah Fowler desired an entirely different kind of relationship with me than I with her. For a long time I believed that if I only resisted hard enough, she would someday stop harassing me. I know realize that was not very nice of me."

He wasn't sure but if he had to guess Bernadette looked impressed. "That…is quite mature of you, Sheldon."

He blinked. "Of course. I am a grown man," he stated confused.

Bernadette seemed to want to form a reply, but Penny stopped her before she could. "Sweetie, didn't you want to look for the papers?", she reminded Sheldon.

His blues eyes widened. "Of course," he said, immediately taking action.

* * *

Sheldon could not fall asleep and it was unacceptable. He had to go to work in the morning, especially since he had already missed Monday due to his and Penny's trip. Yet, his mind seemed unable to relax enough in order for him to fall asleep. There were too many thoughts on his mind. Amy, Leonard, Penny, their relationship, the changes that had already happened and the possible ones that might happen rather soon. His work, his fear of intimacy ruining his chances of winning his deeply desired Nobel, Penny and their so very enjoyable attempts at intimacy during their trip. His rather surprising reaction to Penny all of a sudden.

Without a second thought, he got out of bed, put on his robe and slippers and went to do his characteristic knocking on Penny's door.  
After his third round of threes (he could not possibly explain how satisfying he found this), she opened the door. She looked messy, tired and definitely annoyed, yet Sheldon's mind described her as beautiful.

"What the hell?"

"I'm afraid Leonard will come back and kill me in my sleep," he pouted and twitched a little. It was a lie, but he could not come up with a better excuse. Even in her annoyance, Penny cracked a smile and opened the door wider for him to enter.

"But I'm not taking the couch again," she called over her shoulder as she made her way back to bed, leaving Sheldon to fend for himself. He blushed a bit and didn't know what to do for a moment. Deep down he knew why he had come here. He wanted to sleep with Penny again. But now that he was standing alone in her dark living room, he did not know how to proceed.

Deciding to be bold, he took a deep breath and slowly walked into her bedroom. Penny seemed to be sleeping again, but had apparently left a bit of room for him to get in if he wanted.

Taking another deep breath, he got in. His heart pounded strongly. Somehow, it was different than it had been in San Francisco. Maybe sharing Penny's bed was more real. It was evidence that they had really done this.

Penny moved and snuggled against him. "Night," she slurred, pressing her lips against his neck. Sheldon froze, and then forced himself to calm down. Wasn't this why he had come here in the first place? He closed his eyes and slowly got comfortable. Just before he finally let sleep overtake his body, he felt Penny slip her hand into his.

* * *

He did not know what had possessed him to do this. Consciously he had told himself that this would need to happen at some point and as his friends were currently not at work, he had nothing else to do during his lunch break. So he had purchased two sandwiches and walked across the campus to the neurobiology department. Then he knocked nervously on Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler's lab door, aware that his characteristic knocking would make his identity obvious to her. So he finished his knocking against his own leg and called her name out in his head.

When she opened the door, he was slightly startled by her appearance. She had clearly not been sleeping well as the dark circles under her eyes indicated and the look in her green eyes was not too promising either.

"Hello," he greeted, holding up the brown paperback. "I hoped we could have lunch and a talk."

Amy did not seem happy. "Go away, Sheldon." She moved to shut the door in his face, but in a surprisingly determined move he put his foot between the door and its frame.

"Please, Amy." He could not explain why he wanted them to be friends again so badly, but it clearly made him braver and not so avoiding when it came to emotional conflicts.

"Fine," she relented, moving back to her desk and Sheldon followed her inside, dutifully closing the door behind him.

"Sheldon, am I to understand that you kissed Penny and ran away with her, but that you are not dating and want us to get back together instead?"

He unpacked their lunch and sat down. "No," he declined, "I _am_ dating Penny, I think. But I wanted you and me do be friends again," he explained, unable to pick up on her hurt expression.

"You can't be serious!", she exclaimed.

Confused, he stared at her. "Of course I am," he said, chewing on his sandwich, "Amy, I did a lot of thinking and I have come to the conclusion that you and I were simply never compatible despite our similar pattern."

When she only stared at him, he took it as his cue to continue. "You wanted something I would never have to truly wanted do deliver and I longed for something that apparently does not exist. In short, being in a relationship with each other was unfair to either of us."

"Sheldon, Penny will be lots more demanding regarding sex. I was your best shot," Amy argued.

He shook his head. "That's different. Previously, I thought that it was only a relationship of the mind that I desired and I feared that intimacy was going to prevent me from achieving my life's dream, winning a Nobel. But I have come to realize that while I value your mind and really appreciate your friendship I have never physically desired you. Turns out, I am okay with intimacy when it comes Penny."

"You slept with her?", Amy cried incredulously, her lips trembling. "Of course, beautiful Penny even gets you to lose your pants."

Sheldon, understand that she had put 'sleeping with Penny' into another context, namely as an euphemism, chose not to correct her.

"You cheated on both me and Leonard, your best friend and want us to go back to being friends? Have you lost your mind?", she suddenly screamed and the murderous glare she sent his way was enough to make his heart pound quicker and his palms sweaty.

"I did not cheat on you!", he protested, even though he was suddenly terrified of Amy's wrath. "You broke up with me before anything happened with Penny. And FYI, Leonard cheated on her two years ago!"

"I didn't break up with you!", she cried, "I took a break."

"According to the internet, it's the same thing."

To his shock, Amy started crying. "It's all in vain anyway because you never really wanted to be with me in the first place," she sobbed.

Uncomfortably, Sheldon watched her. He did not know what to tell her. Neither of them could change the way they felt about each other after all.  
"I am sorry you are in pain," he told her sincerely and reached over to pat her hand awkwardly.

"Would you please go now? I need some time to process all this," she said through her tears.

Dejectedly, Sheldon got up. He had hoped that he and Amy would be able to make amends, but it seemed it was not going to happen anytime soon.

* * *

"How mad was she?", Penny instantly asked when Sheldon told her he had gone to see Amy when Penny picked him up from work.

"I believe she was more upset than angry," he informed her.

Penny looked stricken. "Oh."

He nodded. "Yes, indeed. Not only did she lose a catch like me as her boyfriend, it was to a much more attractive woman."

Penny rolled her eyes. "That's really not the point." She made the car turn left.

That confused him. "What's the point?"

"What do you think?, she asked in that 'duh'-tone he hated, "her ex-boyfriend hooked up with her best friend. That's gotta hurt."

Well, he supposed so. After further reflection he had realized seeing Penny with Leonard had pained him as well. "I told her I want to be her friend again. Like in the beginning when she was a girl and my friend but not my girlfriend. Like an irrational number is a set of real numbers, but not every real number must necessarily be a set of irrational numbers."

Penny sighed. "Sweetie, sometimes talking to you really makes my head hurt."

"She told me she would need time," he continued, ignoring Penny's jab.

His blond neighbor nodded. "To be expected. Amy really loved you, Sheldon."

"Like Leonard loved you?", he couldn't help but ask. He watched as Penny's expression clouded.

"You know, I don't know if Leonard and I ever really loved each other. You know, the right way."

Sheldon wisely chose to keep quiet and got out of the car instead as they had finally reached the apartment complex. Slowly, they walked up the stairs, not saying anything. In front of his door, he turned around to ask Penny if she wanted to join him for dinner, but she surprised him by pulling him towards her by the collar of his shirt and pressing her lips hungrily to his.  
To his credit, it only took him a second to unfreeze and join her in her passion. His hands slipped around her waist and her tongue into his mouth and he let Penny press him against the apartment door. Sheldon's blood almost boiled when he felt her breasts against his chest and he let out a moan.

He still could not believe into what kind of sex starved person he had suddenly turned, but Penny brought that out in him and somehow he could not bring himself to care. It felt good, freeing and they both liked it. So far his work had not yet suffered, so he was very much okay.

"Am I to assume that we are dating now?", he asked around her tongue.

"You bet your skinny ass," Penny groaned out, letting her lips wander down to suck on his neck. Sheldon's blue eyes closed and rolled back in his head. He couldn't believe he was letting this happen and in a public place like the hallway for that matter.

"Oh god, Penny," he murmured against her mouth as his fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice told him that he better moved them into his apartment, but it seemed he was unable to detach himself from the temptation that was Penny.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper!", a voice suddenly thundered and he instantly did not feel aroused at all, but very much like someone had dumped ice cold water on him.


	5. Chapter Five

**Hello guys. As usual, thank you so much for your many reviews. Some of them were really nice. This the penultimate chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers!**

* * *

 _Chapter Five_

"I couldn't believe it when Leonard told me what you've done. I thought he gotta be jokin'," Mary Cooper said for the umpteenth time as she paced the living room.

Sheldon could not tell why she was so angry and even here for that matter. Leonard had certainly had no right or rational reason to call his mother. And she, on the other hand, was certainly behaving rather hypocritical considering her unchristian like behavior during his unannounced visit a few years prior.

"Mother, I still do not understand why you are here," he voiced his thoughts, watching her thoughtfully. Penny was seated next to him. At first, right after his mother had met them in the hall, she had been embarrassed. By now, she seemed rather amused which baffled him even more.

"Why I am here?", Mary repeated doubtfully, "Sheldon, your friend called me and told me ya were sinnin'. In more ways than one. How could I not come?"

"Mom, correct me if I am wrong, but-"

"Sheldon, hush," Penny suddenly cut him off before facing his mother. "Mrs. Coopers, I'm really sorry Leonard made you come all the way over here, but Sheldon didn't do anything wrong."

Alright, that might not be completely true, but he had certainly not behaved as bad as Leonard had apparently made his mother believe.

"Don't ya take me for no fool, sugar," Mary chastised, but Penny was apparently unaffected.

"No, I'm serious. When it started, Amy had already broken up with him and I should never have married Leonard in the first place."

"'Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's wife'," Mary recited, making Sheldon roll his blue eyes annoyed.

"Mother, neither Leonard nor Penny nor I believe in any deity and Leonard and Penny were not wed in a church or in presence of a cleric."

"Regardless, and don't ya sass me, Shelly."

"He's right, Mrs. Cooper, and for what's worth it, Sheldon and I are really happy together and feel terrible for Amy and Leonard."

"But you're sinnin' and you're still married to poor Leonard."

"I already filled in the divorce."

At that, Mary sat down in the armchair and watched them closely. "You aren't just foolin' 'round, are ya?", she asked after a moment.

While Penny shook her head no, Sheldon felt the need to tell his mother off. "Mom, please stop this. Frankly, it's none of your business."

"Watch your mouth, young man."

Immediately, he shut up. Sometimes it astounded him how he could feel like his usual genius self in her presence and then, a minute later, like his five-year-old self, afraid of his mommy's wrath.

"Alright, what do you two kids say to some good dinner?"

* * *

The next day held in another surprise for them because Raj knocked on Sheldon's door, early enough to pick him up for work.

"Good morning, Raj," Sheldon greeted his Indian friend, quite surprised to see him.

"Hey," he said back, a little awkward, but Sheldon wasn't able to pick up on this. "I'm here to pick you up for work."

"Alright," Sheldon smiled pleasantly, "in that case I must notify Penny because she was supposed to take me since Leonard is currently not present."

"Yeah, about that," Raj interjected grimacing, "he's gonna stay at my place for a while."

At that, Sheldon froze. Though both Penny and his mother had explained to him that his friendship with Leonard was not going to be the same for a while, maybe never, he had secretly, maybe a bit childishly, thought that his roommate would be back soon and that they were all going to be friends again. Only that he and Penny were now a couple instead of Leonard and her. Raj's comment however made his idea break down like a house of cards.

"Is he ever-" He cut himself off and swallowed. Even though he mostly did not think of Leonard ad an intellectual equal, he deeply valued his friendship and he knew he depended on him.

"He just needs some time. The love of his life decided to dump him."

"Does that mean he's angrier at Penny than me?", he asked hopefully.

"Nope. He hates you both right now."

Upset, Sheldon forced his feelings on the matter to the back of his mind for now and grabbed his jacket and messenger bag. They walked out of his apartment and he crossed the hall to knock on Penny's door.

She was already dressed for work and waited patiently until his knocking habit was finished. She smiled softly at him when she opened the door.

"Morning, sweetie," she greeted.

"Good morning, penny," he replied, "I know I requested you to take me to work, but your assistance won't be necessary after all because Rajesh showed up unscheduled. He offered to take me."

Processing Sheldon's words, Penny stepped around him to look at Raj who waved awkwardly. "You're back?"

Raj nodded. "Yeah. Since last night."

"How's he?", Penny asked and Sheldon supposed she inquired after Leonard.

"Not good. He's gonna stay at my place for a while." He walked closer to them. "Actually, Sheldon…what do you say to us resuming our try at roommates? At least until Leonard's back on his feet. I can't stand his whining 24/7 and you need someone to take you places."

Sheldon considered that. Raj had been a wonderful roommate and what he said was logical. There was only one thing Sheldon felt he needed to be clear about.  
"Under the condition that you won't sleep with Penny again while occupying Leonard's room, I imagine you got yourself a deal."

"Sure," Raj rolled his eyes while Penny was highly annoyed.

"Sheldon, I'm with you now. If I'm gonna share anyone's bed, it's gonna be yours."

"While your grammar skills are still horrifying, I understand your sentiment and like what it implies. I feel the need to inform you that the feeling is mutual."

Rolling his eyes, Raj pulled on Sheldon's sleeve. "Come one, dude. I still need to tank up." To his surprise, Sheldon followed his request and kissed Penny goodbye.

Wow, he thought, I really didn't see this coming.

* * *

The next few days went by rather quickly. After Raj made himself a provisory home in Leonard's room, Sheldon, Penny and he rook Mary Cooper to the airport. She made them promise, if they were still together at Christmas, to come down to visit because his Meemaw would love to meet Shelly's first real girlfriend. Even though Sheldon pointed out that Penny was hardly his first since he'd had been dating Amy Farrah Fowler for quite some time, Penny and his mother ignored him and the blonde promised they would be there.

At work, Leonard avoided Sheldon like the plague. If Sheldon was already in the cafeteria with Raj and Howard, Leonard ate alone and vice versa. Apparently, even though they were currently not communicating, they had silently agreed they were not going to pull Raj and Howard into the mess. Penny thought it was rather mature of the both of them. While Sheldon thought so too, he knew that they needed to have a talk soon. He hated confrontations. On the other hand, there was not much left to talk about. The only thing that could be done was for him to apologize for hurting his best friend and for Leonard to somehow get over his hurt and move on in order for them to be friends again. Penny said it was not going to happen soon. "Leonard loves me, Sheldon, and we've been together for so long. It's gonna take a while."

The other thing was Amy. She had yet to get back to him and so far she had blocked every one of Penny's attempts to contact her. However, Bernadette told them that she'd had a talk with their bespectacled friend and that Amy had already been on two dates with other men, so it looked like she was going to be okay after all.

Then, on the fifth morning after Raj had moved in, Sheldon asked him for advice.

"I'm in need of your assistance," he informed his current roommate.

"Okay…," Raj slowly agreed.

"I owe Penny a date. It has to contain dinner, dancing and possibly coitus and its end. What do I do?"

Raj grimaced at Sheldon's choice of words and the mental image for a moment, before his eyes widened ever so slightly. "You haven't been on a date yet and you're willing to have sex? Sheldon Cooper?!"

Sheldon ignored the last part of Raj's question. "I believe we have been on a date, but not an official one since she was still married to Leonard. At least as far as he knew. Therefore it could not count, but I promised we were going to have another one."

Nodding slowly, Raj agreed. "Okay, alright. How about I'm gonna come up with something and get back to you?"

Sheldon nodded. "Sounds satisfactory."

* * *

The next evening, on Anything-Can-Happen-Thursday no less, Sheldon knocked on Penny's door to pick her up for their first official date. He was both nervous and excited. And fighting off a blush because Howard had thrown a pack of condoms at him before he left Raj and him to the newest edition of DanceStar.

"Hey sweetie," Penny greeted, kissing his cheek and turned around to lock her door.

"Hello Penny." She was beautiful. She wore a dress that was both decent and revealing at the same time. Her hair was curled and she fit against him rather perfectly as they walked down the stairs.

"I really like that you didn't make me drive," she commented.

"Mary Cooper raised me to be no fool," he replied, his Texan twang coming out a bit and Penny giggled.

Sheldon blushed and twitched. "And it helped that Bernadette told me not to," he admitted, causing Penny to laugh out loud.

Their date went surprisingly well. They had no difficulties to find topics they wanted to talk about, Penny liked the musical establishment where they went to dance and Sheldon knew there was a big chance they were going to have coitus later, considering how their bodies moved against each other while dancing. He was hot, sweaty and bothered by his erection and pleaded Penny in a husky voice to take him home.

On the way, he almost couldn't stand how enticingly her clever fingers slid on his thighs and how he could barely hold in a groan.

He could not remember ever climbing the stairs as fast as he had that night and when they were finally in her apartment he was so desperately ready he thought he was going to explode. An hour and a half later he asked himself how he had ever been able to live without this.

* * *

Because he was quite disorientated as he awoke, he let out his characteristic 'Danger, danger'- scream, making Penny cry out as well.

"Damn it, Sheldon," she complained, moving a hand to the spot of her heart on her naked chest to calm her racing heart.

"I apologize," he said once he had recognized his surroundings.

"How late is it?", she asked, moving her hair out of her face.

"Six a.m. sharp. It's when I always wake up. You should know that by now," he replied haughtily.

"That can't be true, smartass, because when I got up to pee a while ago, I heard Raj going to work."

"What?" Panicked, Sheldon turned to grab his phone and realized she was right and that it was almost nine. "What has your alluring body done to me?", he cried out, but Penny only laughed.

"Relax, moonpie. No one's gonna care if you play hooky once."

"Hockey? I don't do sports, only on Wii, and what does that have to do with anything?", he asked irritably as he tried to hide his nudeness.

"It's hooky, not hockey, genius. It means skipping work. Something good catholic Shelly has never done."

"Not good catholic Shelly, but responsible, hungry for knowledge Sheldon has never done and is certainly not starting now," he corrected, for once using sarcasm right. Sighing, he got up, taking the sheets with him.

"I can't believe Raj would go without me. That's a strike for him and one for you for not waking me earlier. Now, I'm going to shower and you are taking me to work afterwards," he ordered and Penny rolled her eyes.

So much for a sweet morning after.

* * *

Because he was so late, he worked six hours through without a break (after he had informed Raj of his strike of course). Around four he was satisfied enough with his work and progress that he was ready for a short break. Sheldon wasn't particularly hungry, but decided to get himself a snack from the vending machine anyway. There was a text from Penny on his phone.

 _Hey sweetie, I know not to interrupt, but you should know I'm gonna have dinner with L. later. To sign the papers and maybe talk. See you after maybe?" xo_

Dread filled him. What if Leonard was able to convince her to give their relationship its hundredth try? On the other hand, they had had coitus only a little over twelve hours ago. Penny wouldn't do that.

Sheldon calmed down and decided to refocus on his work again. Dark matter and he had had a rocky start but he knew he was onto something. He had a good theory and just needed to work out the math. He was a genius and he could do it. Grabbing his favorite marker, he turned back to his white board and let his genius take over.

* * *

The knock on his door spooked him. His eyes burnt and his body was so tense as if he had not moved for hours. Confused, he noticed that it was much later and darker than he had expected it to be.

"Yes?" His voice was hoarse since he had not used it for hours. The door opened and he was surprised to see Penny step into his office.

"Honey? Are you okay? It's almost ten." She looked concerned, he believed, and he slowly processed her words.

"Oh. I must have worked myself into a frenzy, as they say."

She smiled, stepped closer and took the marker from him. "Come on, sweetie. I'll take you home, make you a quick dinner and you can go to sleep. Tomorrow's Saturday, but I know you like your schedule."

He was so thankful for her caring he did not even protest when she kissed him in his workplace.

Half an hour later he was seated on his spot at home eating his Friday night pizza and remembered Penny's text earlier.

"How was your dinner with Leonard?", he asked around his food.

Penny, who was seated next to him, looked thoughtful. "Hard to tell. I apologized and we talked, but he is still very angry and hurt. Of course, making him sign the papers didn't help."

Sheldon nodded. "Are you okay?", he asked in a rare moment of awareness.

Penny's eyes widened a bit and then she sent him a smile that made him promise himself he would put more effort into inquiring her moods from now on. "I'm okay, sweetie. Just sad about the whole situation. I feel bad for Amy and Leonard."

Again, he nodded. He could relate to that. He really wanted things to be normal again as well.

The key in the door made them turn around. Raj appeared. "Hey," he greeted them.

"Hey sweetie."

"Hello."

"Stuart's doing another cards tournament tomorrow. Do you want to pair up again?", Raj asked Sheldon hopefully.

"Raj, as you're well aware I only participated last time to beat Wil Wheaton. As he is my friend now and I do not see that changing until tomorrow which would be regardless anyway because Wil is unlikely to participate again, I see no reason why I should either."

"Please, Sheldon," Raj instantly whined, "I'll even take you to the good train store outside of Pasadena."

Sheldon noticed how penny tried to hide her smile when he hesitated.

"Come on, Sheldon, be a good friend," she said and somehow Sheldon found his resistance vanishing.

"Fine," he relented with a sigh.

"Thank you. I'll let you get back to your date now."

Surprised, Sheldon watched as his Indian friend left for his room, which was still Leonard's in his mind.

"I wonder about him sometimes," he said.

"Why?", Penny asked confused.

"It's Friday. Date night was yesterday. He should know that."

* * *

The following week was almost exactly the same. They saw neither Leonard nor Amy, but met up with Raj, Howard and Bernadette. However, most of Leonard's belongings were still in his room in 4A which gave Sheldon the security he needed. If Leonard wanted to move out permanently he surely would collect his person items, wouldn't he?

Sheldon's work life, on the other hand, was looking very bright. He was onto something big, he knew he was. Almost every evening someone had to drag him out of his office before he worked himself to death, but he knew he was almost there. If he could only work out the math, he could prove his idea and if that happened, the next Nobel would be undoubtedly his.

On Friday afternoon, precisely at 1:35 p.m. he did it. Now, he only needed to find someone who could prove his math experimentally.


	6. Chapter Six

**Hi guys! This is the last chapter of this little piece. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. Thank you so much for your reviews and support through various comments and messages. Have fun with this last part. Cheers!**

* * *

 _Chapter Six_

He still felt like this was some nasty dream. But the fact that he was currently living at Raj's sorta proved this was his new god awful reality now. After his talk with Penny more than a week ago when she had told him that there really wasn't a chance for them and that she wanted him to sign the papers, it had felt as if someone was twisting the knife that was already stuck in his heart.

He had barely seen Sheldon since that day they came back from their little escape trip to San Francisco. Yet, he had heard through Raj and Howard (they never talked about it in his presence though) that Sheldon was in a relationship with Penny now and that somehow it did not appear weird or disgusting. Instead they apparently fit well together and it made Sheldon much more…tolerable.

From Amy, the other hurt one in this mess, he had not heard much of since the day he had shown her Sheldon's note. Maybe for her this situation was even worse because he still had his other friends. Amy though had only ever really been friends with Penny and Sheldon which kind of left her alone. Feeling worse only thinking about that, Leonard decided to pay the neurobiology department a visit.

Amy seemed pleasantly surprised to see him. "Leonard," she greeted him and even smiled at him, though it seemed a bit forced.

Leonard couldn't help but stare. "Uh…hi," he said after a moment, "I wanted to check up on you."

"That's nice. I'm okay, considering. How are you doing? Last I heard you were living with Raj."

He nodded. "Yeah. Actually we switched places."

Amy nodded. "Understandable. You wouldn't want to see Sheldon and Penny together."

That surprised him. "You know about that?"

"Sure. I talked to Bernadette recently and besides that's what Sheldon informed me his plans were when he came to see me."

Wow. It seemed Amy was a lot less affected by any of this than he was. But how could that be? He knew she had always been crazy about Sheldon and had had a weird kind of crush on Penny.

"How can you be so cool about this?", he asked uncomprehendingly.

Amy shrugged. "I cried a lot, believe me. But when Sheldon came to talk to me…I guess I finally saw what's been right in front of us from the beginning."

Leonard gaped at her. "What?"

"Sheldon may be a lot of things but he is not a bad person. He just does what occurs to him as the right course of action. In this case he's unconsciously had repressed feelings for Penny for such a long time and never actively thought he'd ever do anything about it. But suddenly he thinks I broke up with him, she is about to end your marriage before it's really started and she is not opposed to his advances. I believe the natural course of action for everyone, including us, would be to go for it."

"So what are you saying?", Leonard asked shocked. "That we were just collateral damage?"

"Essentially? Yes!"

* * *

Taking another deep breath, Sheldon raised his hand a second time. Yet, it seemed like he still had not found the courage he needed to finally knock on Leonard Hofstadter's lab door. Sheldon had not seen his roommate since that fateful day when they had come back from San Francisco, but he knew Leonard was still mad at him. On the other hand, this had nothing to do with their personal lives but with a passion they had both in common and that maybe came before everything else.

Science.

Closing his blue eyes for a moment, he forced himself to raise his hand for a third time.

"What do _you_ want?" Leonard's voice from behind him made him whirl around in surprise.

"Hello Leonard," he replied nervously and watched as his best friend came closer.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Leonard told him as he moved to open the door to his lab.

"This is not a social visit. I have to show you something. Please let me come in."

Leonard gave him a skeptical look but was apparently curious because he gestured for Sheldon to follow him inside.

"What is it?"

Wordlessly, Sheldon handed him two sheets of paper which Leonard took. Sheldon watched him as he read through everything and tried to name the ever changing emotions on the other physicist's face while he waited for a reaction.

In the end, Leonard only stared at him, obviously speechless. "Do you know what…Sheldon, this could be it. Your Nobel."

Sheldon nodded. "I know. I need someone to prove my theory experimentally," he replied, looking Leonard straight in the eye.

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

He looked away at that. He knew what Leonard was saying and a few years ago he might actually have done just that but now…

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to meet Leonard's eyes again. "I am a theoretical physicist and while I might always have belittled your scientific capabilities, I do believe you are better suited to prove my theory than I am."

"If I can do this, it means you will have to share your Nobel with me," Leonard pointed out.

Again, Sheldon looked away but nodded. "I am aware. Are you going to do it or not?" Nervously, he waited for Leonard's answer.

His friend swallowed. "Yes."

Relief filled him. Quickly, he turned around to flee the room, but Leonard's voice stopped him. "I went to see Amy."

That made him freeze and turn back to face his friend. "And?"

"You always said Penny's and my relationship was ill-fated. What did you mean by that?"

His question surprised Sheldon. He would have expected Leonard to inquire why he had taken away his wife or how he expected them to work together, not to mention to ever be friends again, but not this.

Choosing his words carefully, he looked at his bespectacled friend. "I said that repeatedly because Penny and you both have the qualities you both fear the most in a romantic partner. You have both expectations of a romantic partner neither of you could ever fulfill for the other."

Confused, Leonard looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

Sheldon paused. How was he supposed to explain this to Leonard who had always worn rose-colored glasses where Penny was concerned?  
"Penny needs her romantic suitor to be confident in relation to her physical appearance, his own person and the relationship itself. He needs to encourage her dreams, but show her her own boundaries and abilities. Her many romantic partners in the past and her rejection of your previous marriage proposals suggest a strong fear of commitment, but yet, as a very social person whose whole confidence depends on other people's admiration, she is very much afraid of being on her own. Hence the sudden agreement to drive to Las Vegas.  
You, on the other hand, crave commitment and appreciation. You need to be needed and desire to have a beautiful woman because of your low self-esteem caused by your upbringing. At the same time you fear said sort of woman because of the mentioned low self-esteem. So yes, your relationship was ill-fated from the very beginning and for what's worth it, I am very sorry, Leonard."

Uncomfortably, he noticed that Leonard was staring dumbfounded at him. He moved to walk away again, but Leonard's voice haltered him a second time.

"What makes you think it's gonna be different with you?"

"Because unlike you and Penny, she and I have exactly the characteristic qualities we both desire in a romantic partner," Sheldon explained.

"Since when do you even have a list of attributes you want in a girlfriend?"

"I asked myself that question as well and I do believe the answer is 'since we met Penny'."

* * *

When Sheldon told Penny of his findings and his talk with Leonard after they had both recovered from the extensive love making, Penny smiled softly. "I think he's gonna come around," she mumbled into his neck as he let his fingers wander lovingly along her left arm.

And she was right. A few months later, long after they had started to work on proving Sheldon's theory, the whole gang started to hang out at 4A again. Amy and her new boyfriend Dylan joined them often enough and Penny and Sheldon were tactful in Leonard's presence. And then, two weeks after they had finally proven the theory and had handed everything over in order for their findings to be evaluated, Penny introduced Leonard to Haley, a new intern at hers and Bernadette's work place. They instantly hit it off and while Sheldon had been reluctant to have a new addition to their circle of friends, he had quickly realized how it got Leonard off their case.

It didn't take long after that for Leonard and Raj to switch apartments again and for the first time in months, Sheldon was able to really breathe again. Now that he had Haley worshipping him, Leonard had been able to admit that he and Penny maybe really had never been that good for each other and he even agreed that being with Penny made Sheldon much more tolerable.

"Have I told you that I'm glad you just kissed me that night?", Penny asked him on the night of Leonard's moving back in. She was resting nakedly against his equally naked body and smiled sleepily up at him.

"No, but I am as well. And even more so for Amy breaking up with me and Leonard kissing Mandy Chao."

Penny giggled. "Kinda looks like everything happens for a reason."

Sheldon rolled his eyes but chose not to comment. If he had learned one thing during his relationship with Penny so far, it was that sometimes it was better not to say out loud what he was thinking.

"I love you, sweetie," she murmured against his neck.

"I love you, too." He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes.

Life was good.


End file.
